Performance marketing’s morals: Why it matters

13 Mar Performance marketing’s morals: Why it matters

By Gareth Mountain, Head of Sales, Olico

Every so often it becomes necessary to take stock of the industry you work in and do some thorough spring cleaning. Locally, the performance marketing industry needs to take a long, hard look at itself and face up to some unethical practices that have reared their ugly heads. For an industry that already needs to work hard to build consumer trust, there are companies out there that by unscrupulous conduct, drag ethical businesses down alongside them.

Ask anyone in the industry and they would have heard stories about unprincipled companies doing the following:

• Marketing to people who have put their names on the Do Not Contact list
• Marketing to people who they don’t have the legal right to market to
• Marketing before 8 A.M. and after 7 P.M., or on public holidays
• Marketing products that are clearly not in the consumer’s best interests
• Not removing a contact off a marketing list after they’ve opted out

Responsibility on both sides

I firmly believe that performance marketing holds benefits for the consumer, and that there are agencies out there that take their responsibility – to both the industry and consumer –  to heart. These companies will note that the accountability to act ethically most definitely lies with them, but that clients also play a role.

On our side, marketing agencies must take a firm stand on what type of products they’re willing to promote. For example, I’m shocked to see some of the loan finding services that are being pushed. These prey on desperate, blacklisted consumers and are getting away with murder based on a few technicalities. Although times are tough for everyone and clients are hard to come by, providing a service to unethical businesses, to my mind at least, makes you complicit. One just has to look at the Bell Pottinger debacle to know where collaborating with the wrong company will get you.

On the client side, before providing their business, they should ask some tough questions from direct marketing companies. Amongst them should be: Is the company you want to use compliant with the Direct Marketing Association of Southern Africa’s (DMASA) Electronic Communications Act (ECA)? Do they market what can be considered unethical products and services? And finally, are they gearing up for the Protection of Personal Information (PoPI) Act?

Ready for PoPI

As much as there is a large amount of effort required to become PoPI compliant, it holds a number of key benefits for both consumers and the industry at large. Take for example the recent data breach where up to 50 million South African citizens’ data was exposed. It is exactly these types of security risks that PoPI aims to prevent, and if PoPI was in effect, the company would have faced the full might of the law, including a R10 million fine, or even imprisonment.

Apart from securing personal information, for marketing companies PoPI of course also addresses the controversial subject of to whom one is able to market to. By requiring opt-in proof from clients for any marketing activity, marketing agencies’ email/SMS-lists could shrink considerably. Those who are not gearing up towards this change are sure to feel the pinch in their pockets soon.

The consumers’ best interest

Unethical behaviour of one bad apple in the industry reflects poorly on all of us, blackening the name of the industry and impacting the public’s trust. It is in the performance marketing industry’s own best interest that those who act unscrupulously are held accountable for their actions and face consequences. Or else, unethical behaviour will soon be impacting all of our bottom lines.

Furthermore, for the performance marketing industry to continue to flourish, not only is compliance to PoPI a priority, but so is self-regulated, moral behaviour. Both marketing companies and the companies using our services must have the consumers’ best interests at heart. Without that commitment first and foremost, we are fighting a losing battle.

About Olico

Lending and Innovation Company, Olico, is an online and mobile marketing partner. It offers an end-to-end service, enabling financial service providers or other advertisers to market and sell their products in a highly targetable way. Olico works with blue-chips Liberty, Sanlam, Hollard, RCS, 1life Direct and many more, using a CPL or CPA model, generating over 10 000 insurance sales and over 100 000 loan applications per month. Olico was founded by Mike Kann in 2013. It is a member of the DMA and is POPI compliant.

Article as appeared on RedZone.co.za on 4 December 2017.